Man dies in Pueblo over weekend from flu

A man in his 50s died last weekend from complications that included the flu, the city’s director of health said Monday night.

Dr. Christine Nevin-Woods, contacted at home, said she was not sure where the man, who had underlying medical conditions, died, either at Parkview or St. Mary-Corwin medical centers.

“He would not have died if he did not have the flu,” said Nevin-Woods. “Almost everyone who has been in the hospital with the flu has underlying conditions and most have not been vaccinated.”

Also Monday, public health officials confirmed an increase of flu-like illness in the Pueblo County jail.

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Sheriff Kirk Taylor contacted the Pueblo City-County Health Department and the department confirmed the increase in cases at the jail, said Nevin-Woods.

“The Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office is working closely with the health department to minimize the spread of this illness in the jail,” she said.

Part of the intake process for new prisoners is to offer a flu shot, Taylor said Monday night. “But we can’t make people take the shot.

“There’s a few cases, and we wanted to get out in front of it, because we’re in such close confines,” he said. “We have one confirmed with the flu, but there are people who are sick. Every inmate and staffer is eligible to get a shot.

“We don’t have a whole lot of room to segregate sick people,” Taylor said. “Over 50 people get booked in and released from this facility every day; it is inevitable illnesses outside the building make it inside.”

The increase in flu-like illness in the jail mirrors the increase in Pueblo and throughout Colorado according to the health department. To date, Pueblo has had 38 hospitalized cases of influenza. Most hospital cases have underlying conditions, such as chronic lung disease, diabetes and those whose bodies cannot fight disease and are most vulnerable when not vaccinated.

“The hospitalized cases of flu represent the tip of the iceberg as to how many actual flu cases are currently in Pueblo,” noted Nevin-Woods. “The age distribution of people getting ill in Pueblo is younger than most years as 24-64 year olds are the majority of the individuals being hospitalized.”